RedAllison
Well-Known Member
Help, I'm having a "pyschological dilema".
When I was 15 years old my paternal grandfather gave me his rifle. It's a Marlin 336 in 35Rem that he bought back in the 60s. Being the oldest grandchild and the most serious outdoorsman of the lot, he wanted me to have that gun. (He also later gave my dad his beloved 12ga he got second hand when he was a kid because he wanted to make sure I ended up with it someday. My dad gave it to me a couple of years ago because dad knew it would be most protected in my safe and cared for by me vs sitting in a case in his closet)
So anyway, my grandad was like alot from his generation (he was a WWII and Korean War veteran) he grew up hunting and shooting before scopes were commonplace and the ones built "back in the day" were considerably less trust worthy than todays technological wonder pieces. I remember like it was yesterday, he walked into my dads house with that 35 and before he handed it too me he said, "Son this is a saddle rifle and they were never built for scopes. So DON'T ever put a scope on it ok?" (Nevermind the Marlin's are factory drilled and tapped and nearly all of them have always been scoped because of their true side ejection vs the Winchester 94s top/angle eject)
A year or two later I killed a doe with it just to say I'd killed a deer with it. It's sat unused for the last 24 years since! I've kept it in pristene condition and take it out every now and then to handle it and think about my grandad (he passed nearly 18 years ago now). But with my buying a new hunting farm this fall and totally changing the way I'm used to deer hunting I now am hunting mainly woods and setups where 150-200yds is the farthest shots I'll have. I have 270s, a 280, 7mags, a 300Wby and several other good rifles but I've want to get something lighter, quicker and a little more "fun" to hunt with. Initially I thought I'd buy a lightweight 243 like I got for my boys. But then I got to thinkin the other night, "Why not break out grandads ol 35?" Inside of 200yds the old 35Rem is magic in the deerwoods.
BUUUT, I hate iron sights. They are essentially worthless over 50yds and I can shoot scopes much faster than iron sights. I know he said, "Don't" but I can't help but wonder if perhaps my grandad could see me with a scoped rifle now after 25+ years of hunting and 200 deer, I can "whack em with the best of em". What would he say? Would he think scoping it and using it would outweigh not scoping it which would mean it continues to sit in the safe for decades again remaining unused?
What do you guys think? I really want to take that old gun out and hunt with it but I wouldn't think of it without scoping it first. I even have the ideal scope for it that's not being used, a Leupold VariX-III 2.5x8x36. A simple bridge and ring mount for the Marlin and I'd be in like flint. I'm ready to return the old Marlin back into the deerwoods for which it was created for in the first place. Would even be neat to let my boys bust a deer with it so they could say they got one with their great-grandfathers gun! But then he told me, "Don't"!!!
I just don't know,
RA
When I was 15 years old my paternal grandfather gave me his rifle. It's a Marlin 336 in 35Rem that he bought back in the 60s. Being the oldest grandchild and the most serious outdoorsman of the lot, he wanted me to have that gun. (He also later gave my dad his beloved 12ga he got second hand when he was a kid because he wanted to make sure I ended up with it someday. My dad gave it to me a couple of years ago because dad knew it would be most protected in my safe and cared for by me vs sitting in a case in his closet)
So anyway, my grandad was like alot from his generation (he was a WWII and Korean War veteran) he grew up hunting and shooting before scopes were commonplace and the ones built "back in the day" were considerably less trust worthy than todays technological wonder pieces. I remember like it was yesterday, he walked into my dads house with that 35 and before he handed it too me he said, "Son this is a saddle rifle and they were never built for scopes. So DON'T ever put a scope on it ok?" (Nevermind the Marlin's are factory drilled and tapped and nearly all of them have always been scoped because of their true side ejection vs the Winchester 94s top/angle eject)
A year or two later I killed a doe with it just to say I'd killed a deer with it. It's sat unused for the last 24 years since! I've kept it in pristene condition and take it out every now and then to handle it and think about my grandad (he passed nearly 18 years ago now). But with my buying a new hunting farm this fall and totally changing the way I'm used to deer hunting I now am hunting mainly woods and setups where 150-200yds is the farthest shots I'll have. I have 270s, a 280, 7mags, a 300Wby and several other good rifles but I've want to get something lighter, quicker and a little more "fun" to hunt with. Initially I thought I'd buy a lightweight 243 like I got for my boys. But then I got to thinkin the other night, "Why not break out grandads ol 35?" Inside of 200yds the old 35Rem is magic in the deerwoods.
BUUUT, I hate iron sights. They are essentially worthless over 50yds and I can shoot scopes much faster than iron sights. I know he said, "Don't" but I can't help but wonder if perhaps my grandad could see me with a scoped rifle now after 25+ years of hunting and 200 deer, I can "whack em with the best of em". What would he say? Would he think scoping it and using it would outweigh not scoping it which would mean it continues to sit in the safe for decades again remaining unused?
What do you guys think? I really want to take that old gun out and hunt with it but I wouldn't think of it without scoping it first. I even have the ideal scope for it that's not being used, a Leupold VariX-III 2.5x8x36. A simple bridge and ring mount for the Marlin and I'd be in like flint. I'm ready to return the old Marlin back into the deerwoods for which it was created for in the first place. Would even be neat to let my boys bust a deer with it so they could say they got one with their great-grandfathers gun! But then he told me, "Don't"!!!
I just don't know,
RA
Last edited:
